Duplex sonography of hepatic artery thrombosis after liver transplantation

When hepatic artery thrombosis occurs after liver transplantation, another transplantation is required to ensure the patient's survival. Because of the importance of establishing this diagnosis, we reviewed the results of duplex sonography in 37 angiographically or surgically proved cases of hepatic artery thrombosis after liver transplantation. There were 20 children and 17 adults. Ten of the 20 children had angiographically documented hepatopetal arterial collaterals. Such collaterals were not seen in the adult patients. This subset of patients was evaluated separately to determine if intrahepatic arterial blood flow reestablished by collaterals after hepatic artery thrombosis was a cause of false-negative Doppler studies. Thirty-four (92%) of the 37 cases of hepatic artery thrombosis were correctly identified by Doppler. A Doppler pulse was not identified in any of the children with arterial collaterals. We conclude that duplex sonography is sensitive in detecting hepatic artery thrombosis after liver transplantation. Furthermore, the presence of blood flow in hepatopetal arterial collaterals does not cause false-negative examinations.